"A mistake as to the night," he said; "what can be plainer?"
"Don't wriggle; look the facts in the face."
"Facts?—a coincidence in evidence—a common error."
"Would to God it were!" Hugh strode about the room in obvious perturbation, his eyes bent on the ground. "Bonnithorne, what is the place where the girl Mercy lives?"
"An inn at Hendon."
"Do they call it the Hawk and Heron?"
"They do. The old woman Drayton keeps it."
Hugh Ritson's step faltered. He listened with a look of stupid consternation.
"Did I never tell you that the peddler, Oglethorpe, said he saw Paul at the Hawk and Heron in Hendon?"
Mr. Bonnithorne dropped back into his seat without a word. Conviction was taking hold of him.